With the celebration of Clean Monday, the longest fast of Orthodoxy officially begins.

In addition to spiritual reasons, fasting also provides several benefits to our body as we detoxify meat and its derivatives.

First let’s mention that abstaining from meat can reduce cholesterol and triglyceride levels. It is also linked to the reduction of cardiovascular diseases, since we have a reduced consumption of saturated fat and an increased consumption of monounsaturated fat from olive oil, tahini, nuts

However, due to the many prohibitions, the wrong use of some foods can increase our weight and stress our body, so it would be good to pay attention to the following three things.

1. We always eat a good breakfast.

Breakfast is the first and most important meal of the day, so it is important to get plenty of nutrients from it. Due to the prohibitions of fasting, we cannot eat cold meats, cheese or yogurt and often choose foods such as bagels or bread with vegetable butter and spreads. So instead of eating a breakfast rich in processed carbohydrates and sugar, which as you know have an increased number of calories, an extremely healthy and at the same time filling option is whole grain cereals with vegetable milk and fruit.

2. Less spaghetti and more legumes.

Just because we’re fasting doesn’t mean we don’t have enough choices in what we can eat. Legumes are fasting and very nutritious. Instead of pasta every day, include different legumes that are rich in iron and protein such as lentils, beans or chickpeas in your weekly schedule. Of course, you don’t have to constantly eat the same recipes as you can always experiment by creating burgers and even sweets with these ingredients.

3. We never skip meals.

One of the fundamental principles of proper nutrition is snacking, which increases our blood glucose levels and helps satiety. For your intermediate meals, prefer nuts, fruits, vegetables. A great snack option is dried fruit or plant-based cereal bars.